THE new Culture Secretary has approved the Arts Council of England’s restructuring plans despite objections from the Regional Arts Boards. The regions are to be put at the heart of the organisation, bureaucracy is to be cut and more money is to be put directly into the hands of artists. The new body will combine the Arts Council and the ten regional arts boards, saving up to £10 million a year from the £36 million operating costs.

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I missed this story earlier in the week. This reorganisation has been very controversial, but it looks as though the Arts Council has won the day. The irony is that it will mean the biggest changes at the central Arts council itself, although the Regional Arts Boards will lose some of their autonomy. The result will be that more companies inclusign some national ones will now be the responsibility of the regional offices rather than the central office which has run the major companies to date.

It does look like a big money saver which will mean more cash for the Arts themselves rather than administration.

Concern is mounting at the lack of consultation taking place regarding the Arts Council of England's secretive restructuring plans that will lead to the abolition of departments and the delegation of all arts companies to regional offices.

A number of highly placed arts industry representatives and ACE staff members believe that a failure by management to keep key arts organisations informed of the radical changes to the structure of ACE could lead to the chaos and confrontation that the body experienced when the plans were first announced in March of last year.

More than 100 arts council staff are expected to be told of their future at the funding body on July 8, with huge consequences for performing arts companies and organisations.

Today’s Guardian contains a crucial job advert for UK dance – Director of Dance at the National Office of the Arts Council of England. This role has come available as the present job holder, Hilary Carty, has been appointed as Head of Performing Arts at London Arts. Here and in the postings that follow are the details of the post:

Copy of Advertisement Text

Director of Dance Based in the National Office (Westminster)

Salary £54,931 pa plus package of benefits

You will be responsible for leading the development of dance in England. This is a major opportunity for someone with expert knowledge of dance and a track record in senior management and policy making in the arts.

Reporting to the Executive Director of Arts, you'll be well - versed in the current issues and well able to develop new opportunities for dance.

You'll have the ability to provide national leadership and above all, you'll be a passionate and effective advocate, able to manage our dance team and develop projects with a national impact.

The Arts Council of England is committed to equal opportunities in recruitment and employment. We welcome applications from ethnic minorities, who are currently under-represented in our organisation. Disabled applicants who meet the person specification will be guaranteed an interview.

The Arts Council currently offers an attractive package of benefits, including pension scheme, flexible working and a commitment to work/life balance.

Principal purpose of the post: To provide national leadership for dance and to take overall responsibility for national policy and strategic planning in this area. To provide the national and international overview of dance and to be its principal advocate within the organisation

Key responsibility areas:

General management · In consultation with the Executive Director of Arts, to play a leadership role for the organisation as a whole in terms of dance and contribute to the three corporate objectives of growth, profile and service in this area · To inform Executive Board decision making by providing an overview of national and international activity of the subsidised and commercial dance sectors · To be a member of the national office’s senior management team · To manage the team for dance in the national office · To lead and manage certain national initiatives from time to time

Area of expertise/specialism · To develop a national and international overview of dance provision, subsidised and commercial, and to take a lead in maintaining it in conjunction with colleagues across the organisation · To set strategy/policy for dance for the whole organisation in response to corporate strategy · To lead colleagues in the delivery of key strategic interventions and initiatives to deliver corporate objectives

· To lead, coordinate, monitor and review key corporate policies and programmes of work and funding decisions relating to dance · To advise and guide the Executive Director of Arts, Executive Board and senior colleagues on emerging trends and issues relating to dance · To ensure that the organisation’s delivery of dance is truly representative of the diverse cultures in the country · To provide high-level advice and information for external stakeholders including government departments and industry bodies · To provide professional leadership and develop teamwork with specialists located throughout the organisation, drawing on and supporting regional expertise in the development of national policy and decision making · To identify and analyse the needs of the sector and develop strategies to respond to these

Relationship management · To identify, develop and coordinate new opportunities for external partnerships, including identifying new sources of funding and resources for dance artists, organisations and audiences · To act as the organisation’s principal advocate for dance nationally and internationally, and to lead negotiations on behalf of the organisation with external partners and stakeholders, liaising with senior figures in the dance community · To provide additional expertise to support arts organisations, working closely with regional colleagues

Team management · To oversee the day-to-day management of the national team for dance ensuring that clear objectives, responsibilities and performance standards are set, monitored and reviewed · To lead, manage and delegate where appropriate the implementation of projects both within the national office and with the active involvement of pan-organisation teams · To create and develop a team across the organisation to ensure delivery of dance policies and objectives · To motivate, support and develop all dance staff and act as an expert professional resource for colleagues

Compliance/financial management · To be responsible for the management and allocation of all budgets allocated to the unit · To make recommendations on the distribution of funds at a national level · To manage the unit’s administrative budget

Common requirements for all posts

· To contribute to the development of a professional working and learning environment within the organisation · To contribute to the organisation’s understanding of diversity and its implications for the arts and to ensure that this understanding informs all the organisation’s activities · To ensure adherence to the organisation’s policies and procedures with particular reference to race equality, diversity and Health and Safety policies · To work in a flexible manner in line with the organisation’s corporate objectives and role and to be willing to undertake other duties as reasonably requested · To provide excellent customer care in dealings with the public · To work in the best interests of artists, arts organisations and audiences throughout the country

In the summer of 2002, after a period of radical reform, a new Council of the Arts Council of England was appointed. This is the Council’s manifesto for the years from 2003 to 2006. It sets out our ambition, to promote the arts at the heart of our national life.

This is the start of a new era of significant expansion for the arts in England. The financial case for the arts is being won with Government. In the last spending round, we achieved a major increase in public investment in the arts. Now we intend to capitalise on that success by backing the country’s artistic talent and winning further support for the arts.

It is our central belief that the arts have power to transform lives, communities and opportunities for people throughout the country.

From 2003 to 2006 we will:

· prioritise individual artists · work with funded arts organisations to help them thrive rather than just survive · place cultural diversity at the heart of our work · prioritise young people and Creative Partnerships · maximise growth in the arts

as well as creating a modern and progressive Arts Council.

The Arts Council and ‘the arts’

We will adopt a more modern definition of the arts, one that is open to current trends in emerging (and often challenging) arts practice, in arts and technology, and in breaking down the boundaries between art forms, and between the arts and other disciplines.

We will be unabashed about excellence in the arts. By excellence, we mean the highest possible achievement, not a value system placed on one group by another.

We will take a contemporary, international approach to the arts. We will promote our artists internationally, encourage international exchange and co-production, and do all we can to ensure that audiences and artists in this country benefit from the best of the arts from outside the UK.

We will argue that being involved with the arts can have a lasting and transforming effect on many aspects of people’s lives. This is true not just for individuals, but also for neighbourhoods, communities, regions and entire generations, whose sense of identity and purpose can be changed through the arts.

We will create more opportunities for people to experience and take part in life-changing artistic experiences, through:

We believe that access to the arts goes hand in hand with artistic excellence. Participation, contribution and engagement in the arts are the bridge between access and excellence.

That bridge is especially crucial in a society which is itself subject to ongoing change: more culturally and ethnically diverse; more educated and informed but also more distracted and cacophonous.

Placing artists at the centre

The artist is the ‘life source’ of our work. In the past, we have mainly funded institutions. Now we want to give higher priority to the artist.

We can do this indirectly through training, legislative change, or in stimulating the economy for artists. Or we might provide direct assistance through more funding, or help with spaces to work, with equipment, time, or travel and opportunities for international exchanges.

We believe artists, at times, need the chance to dream, without having to produce. We will establish ways to spot new talent; we will find ways to help talent develop; we will encourage artists working at the cutting edge; we will encourage radical thought and action, and opportunities for artists to change direction and find new inspiration.

Cultural diversity

The arts provide spaces to explore differences. The results can be greater understanding and tolerance or, at their best, a sense of shared excitement and celebration of the miraculous richness and variety of cultural identity and endeavour.

We want cultural diversity to be a central value in our work, running through all our programmes and relationships.

The term ‘cultural diversity’ can be interpreted in many different ways. We will take the broadest interpretation – as meaning the full range and diversity of the culture of this country – but with a particular focus on race and ethnic background.

We can achieve much in cultural diversity through persuasion, illustration and by identifying and sharing good practice. But we also need to take positive action if we are to share our riches and achieve greater equality of opportunity. We will at the very least make more funding available specifically for culturally diverse arts. We will also take steps to change the employment profile, governance and activities of both the Arts Council and the funded sector.

Our relationship with arts organisations

Most of our funding will continue to go to our portfolio of ‘regularly funded organisations’.

We are looking for a new, grown-up relationship with arts organisations; one that is based on trust, not dependency. We will expect hopes, aspirations and problems to be shared openly with us. We consider this new relationship to be fundamentally important to the future of the subsidised arts.

Arts organisations provide the foundation for the arts in this country. Because of this, these organisations must play a leadership role in terms of artistic innovation and experimentation, as well as in how they are managed and governed. They are crucial to all our priorities and we will ask them to make a major contribution to our ambitions in cultural diversity.

At the same time, we will not ask them to take on any agendas that are not consistent with their fundamental purpose and ambition. We want to lighten rather than add to their burden.

We want a new relationship with arts organisations based on mutual trust. We have changed, and will change more, but they must also.

We will be fair in what we expect of organisations. We will help provide training for their employees and we will help to produce more cultural managers and leaders for the future. We will help organisations make the most of their capacity, but we will not ask them to do more than their funding allows.

In return, we expect arts organisations to be open and clear in their dealings with us. We expect them to be well managed and to deliver using our investment. We want them to thrive and not just survive. But we will exercise the right to withdraw our investment from those who repeatedly mismanage or fail to deliver.

The arts and young people

We recognise the transforming power of the arts in relation to young people. We value the wealth of arts and education activity that has taken place and will continue to take place in schools and other settings up and down the country. We see Creative Partnerships as a highly valuable extension of our previous arts and education work, and embrace the Creative Partnership initiative with much excitement and enthusiasm.

Creative Partnerships can bring about profound change in how education relates to the arts and vice versa. We will give it a very high priority, evaluate it thoroughly and we will do all we can to turn it from a pilot into a mainstream activity.

We want to see the same principle – putting people and high quality artists and art together to create transforming experiences – applied to other sectors and ages. Given the significant growth in the population in the 50-plus age group in the next decade, we would like to explore initiatives that apply the Creative Partnerships principle to that age group.

Growth in resources for the arts

As an organisation, we will be focused on growth. We will bring the transforming power of the arts to bear on issues of health, crime, education and inclusion. Many artists are naturally drawn to those fields.

Without compromising our main purpose – the arts – we will make the most of growth by establishing healthy and effective partnerships with a range of national, regional and local organisations. Nationally, these include Government departments for Health, Education, Trade & Industry, and the Home Office as well as agencies such as the Youth Justice Board and national broadcasters. Regionally and locally, these include Regional Development Agencies, Regional Government, Regional Government Offices, Local Strategic Partnerships, Regeneration Agencies and, of course, Local Authorities. We will draw up a plan for growth nationally and regionally, with some clear and challenging targets.

We will place added emphasis on marketing and communicating the value of the arts. This will include marketing of the ‘transforming power’ of the arts – all the arts, not just the arts we fund - and more specific marketing, for example, in relation to new opportunities to raise extra resources for the arts.

A modern, dynamic Arts Council

In order to fulfil our ambitions we need a dynamic and effective Arts Council. We will build staff morale, deliver some early wins, and allow people to get on with their new job. We will create a sense of progress, momentum, excitement and achievement. This will involve focusing on our organisational culture and working methods and making the most of our new organisation’s strengths.

We will form project teams to drive forward new programmes with clear goals, drawing on people across the organisation. Overall, we will improve our operational performance and responsiveness, for example through our much simplified grants programmes.

In summary, we believe that the new Arts Council will be able to · position and market the arts publicly throughout the country so that the case for Government funding in future will be immeasurably stronger · make operational changes that deliver a much improved service to the arts at considerably less cost · lever resources for the arts from a wide variety of national and regional sources at a level far greater than was possible previously · work to one agenda, joining up our programmes and policies with action, and delivering against clearly stated ambitions.

The new Arts Council will be bold and set ambitious targets in order to maximise these advantages. Where there are major gains to be made, we will take risks and encourage the arts community to take risks.

In the past, the Arts Council had many policies and strategies. Now we have this manifesto. It states clearly what we want to do and replaces other general policy statements. Now is the time for action.

How we will measure our success

Our Corporate Plan, which we will publish in March 2003, will set out our detailed investment and describes the practical steps we will take, in partnership with others, to bring about our ambitions. That Plan will include measurable ‘success factors’. By way of illustration, these might include:

- more people saying that the arts play a valuable role in their lives - more people from ethnic and cultural minorities taking part in the arts - the majority of school children having had direct contact with the professional arts - an enhanced reputation for England and the UK as a world centre for critically acclaimed art - a marked improvement in the management and governance of our funded organisations - significant growth in the number of artists who have previously received direct funding from us now enjoying an ongoing economic return from their work - cultural institutions more open to people from diverse backgrounds as performers, audiences and staff - more teachers, health professionals, probation officers, youth workers, social workers and carers reporting the value of the arts in their work - the arts community reporting that we have broadened our range to show a clear interest in new and emerging arts practice - the arts community recognising that the we speak up more effectively for artists and for the value of the arts - our own evaluation showing a creative and valued workforce and - a further significant increase achieved in the 2004 government spending round – as a result of the successful marketing and promotion of the transforming effect of the arts.

We invite artists, organisations, partners and colleagues to join us in this bold adventure.

On the BBC 6 o'clock news, there was the following item from Arts Council England:

- ACE is increasing the money it gives to individual performers to re-charge their batteries or go overseas.

- Grants may be for a project or "time to dream".

- The annual allocation for this will be £25m compared to £14.5m currently (seeking confirmation of this figure).

- Gerry Robinson, ACE Chairman said that too much emphasis was currently placed on institutions, whereas artists are the key to the future of the various art forms.

Stuart adds: In recent years there has been concern that some UK dance artists have been forced to be choreographic machines, as grants were available only for tours with new work and artistic "burn out" was becoming a potential problem for some of the best. The problem has been recognised and a number of strategies have been developed. For instance, dance artists such as Jonathan Burrows have enjoyed the current fellowship scheme.

Spending on individual artists by the Arts Council of England is to nearly double to £25m over the next few years, officials have announced. The organisation also said it would increase funding of the groups it already supports by a further £70m, to £300m by 2006.

The Arts Council says the drive is designed to place "the arts at the heart of national life".

The body has undergone several months of restructuring, merging with regional arts boards to form one central organisation.

New funding programmes 2003 - 2004 From the Arts Council England website

Details of the new grants for the arts in England will be available from 17 February 2003. There will be three new schemes, to be run from the regional offices.

They are:

Grants to individuals: investment for individual artists, residencies, bursaries, arts projects led by individuals such as visual artists, writer or promoters, capital items, and research and development Grants to organisations: investment for organisations including arts projects and events, capital projects, organisational development, and research and development Grants for national touring: support for work of all kinds and scales to tour in England

Grants will normally range from £200 up to £30,000 for individuals or £100,000 for organisations. Most grants are likely to be under £30,000. Grants for national touring will range from £5,000 to £200,00, with most grants under £100,000.

So who will be an ambassador for the arts? Advocacy of the arts is a skill that has gone missing, particularly in government. By David Lister for The Independent.

Here's a diverting little game: whom would you choose to be advocates for the arts? Advocacy is apparently back in vogue, with the Arts Council thinking about appointing paid ambassadors for every art form, people who will champion dance or theatre or music as enjoyable and character building and, not least, deserving of more government money.

Advocacy of the arts is a skill that has gone missing, particularly in government. Not one Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has even been a good enough advocate to convince their own party to make the arts the subject of a daily press conference in any of the recent general election campaigns. The last thing I remember the current Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell saying about British culture is that we were philistine compared to the Germans.

Ah, the dear old BBC! Will someone mention to them that there's not just opera at the ROH:

Arts boost for Opera House Opera is a winner in the spending plan. From the BBC website.

The Royal Opera House is set to get a £3.1m cash injection as part of a three-year Arts Council England spending plan. The government-backed organisation, which distributes funds to arts groups across England, unveiled its spending plans for the next three years on Tuesday.

Individual artists will benefit from a £25m fund for the next three years - double what is available to them now.

While a host of new groups, which do not usually get funding from the Arts Council, will get £123m.

Overall, the Arts Council - funded by government money and lottery receipts - will distribute £410m by 2005/6, compared with £335m in 2003/4.

Arts Council England's first three-year spending review will more than double the grants provided to clients five years ago.

An extra £75 million will be spent by 2005/6, boosting the overall amount to £410 million. In 1998 the total was £189 million.

And a new "Grants for the Arts" system replaces the numerous schemes previously in place, with £123 million available for "new and innovative organisations" which do not receive regular funding. A further £25 million is earmarked for individual artists, incorporating money from the National Lottery.

In a press conference held on Tuesday, chief executive Peter Hewitt said 80% of total ACE grants would go to regularly funded companies which had "artists right at the centre".

Arts Council England has announced the appointment of Jeanette Siddall as Director of Dance. She comes to the Arts Council from Dance UK, the leading organisation for dance professionals, where she has been Director since 2000.

Kim Evans Executive Director of Arts at Arts Council England said. "I am delighted that Jeanette is joining Arts Council England as our Dance Director. Her work in the dance community and in the funding system has given her a wide range of experience and a national perspective, which will be very valuable. I know that she will be a strong advocate for dance and help us deliver our broader ambitions for the arts."

Jeanette Siddall's career in dance spans performing, choreography, teaching, dance development and funding. She has worked as a freelance practitioner and in dance development in Scotland, Yorkshire, Norfolk and Kent. She first joined the Arts Council of England's Dance Department in 1989 as Dance Officer and then Senior Dance Officer before being seconded to the senior management team. She became the first full-time Director of Dance UK in 2001.

Jeanette Siddall said, "I am thrilled to be joining Arts Council England at the beginning of the life of the new organisation. I am keen to find ways of putting into practice its ambitions for the arts, for new ways of working and for new relationships across and beyond the arts. My time with Dance UK has been wonderful and I look forward to using the experience I have gained, in advocating for dance and responding to the aspirations of dance professionals, in my new role."

It's great news that Jeanette (CriticalDance Member 120) has been appointed to this key role in UK dance.

The press release gives a good summary of Jeanette's special skills and she has an enviable reputation as someone who puts dance first. When her very busy schedule has made it possible to post here, it has been on themes of working conditions and pay for dancers as well as the development of dance. She also wrote for CriticalDance a moving account of the service in honour of Dame Ninette de Valois.

I'm sure we all wish Jeanette very best wishes in this exciting and challenging new role.

The Arts Council England, in partnership with the Department of Education and Skills, will be establishing a Youth Dance Agency for England as part of its almost £3 million scheme to give “many thousands of the UK’s most talented young people wider access to music and dance opportunities at some of the nation’s most prominent organisations”. A list of the ten National Youth Music Organisations from 2003/4 has already been published. Guidelines for the tendering process for dance “are currently being devised and further information will be made available later in Spring 2003”.

What has been announced is that DfES have committed £300,000 over the coming three years to develop such an agency, designed to support the wealth of youth dance activity in England. The dance agency “will act as a focal point for information and advice, raise the profile of youth dance and provide lobbying and advocacy on behalf of the sector. Youth dance encompasses a wide range of dance forms including African, ballet, Caribbean, jazz and South Asian dance.”

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